I Run | Teen Ink

I Run MAG

September 14, 2014
By TaylorLaine BRONZE, Paris, Illinois
TaylorLaine BRONZE, Paris, Illinois
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Why can't I say anything normal?" -Jennifer Lawrence


When I run, I am running for my life. The dirt under my shoes is a trampoline, propelling me onward like a jellyfish on steroids. The smell of an oncoming storm, the sun rising over the trees, the coach telling me to “go, go, go, GO!”

I go. I go like it is all I have. I not only give it all I have, I give more than all of my opponents combined. I am the dragon, and they are the horrified peasants. I am the jaguar, and they are the gazelles. The sweat pools and burns my eyes, but I do not wipe it away, because it is my trophy.

When I run, electricity flows through my fingertips as the wind blows in my face, attempting to hold me back – a pathetic attempt. Electricity flows like the blood in my veins, keeping me breathing, holding me intact. It is my oxygen.

When I run, I feel safe. All of my troubles are left behind, because they cannot catch me. I run “over the river and through the woods” and through the place “where troubles melt like lemon drops high above the chimney tops,” but that is not where you’ll find me, because I’ve already passed it.

When I run, I am Tarzan in the jungle, I am Billy Elliot in his ballet shoes, I am the Doctor in the TARDIS, I am Matilda with a book, I am Spider-Man on his web.

When I run, I see the finish line. It is as close to me as a bond between mother and child.

I come in last place.

I said I run. I never said I was good.



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This article has 1 comment.


Awanata GOLD said...
on Jun. 18 2015 at 9:13 am
Awanata GOLD, Goshen, Indiana
10 articles 7 photos 9 comments
Great work! The whole time I was reading it I imagined you, the runner, flying out ahead of everyone else. You totally got me with the ending. I love it! It really shows what running is all about, that it feels great and gives you a feeling that you can do anything, that you're perfect the way you are. And in the end, you're place doesn't really matter. I totally know how it feels at the end of a race, when it doesn't matter what my time was or who I beat, I still feel as if I just won the Olympics. This is a great piece.